116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Trish Mehaffey
Reporter covering state and federal courts, and whatever legal issues come my way. I also provide live coverage of criminal trials on Twitter @tmehaffey and welcome comments and questions from readers during the trials. Outside of work I love movies, tennis and my Kansas State Wildcats! Go Cats! Stay informed with the Public Safety newsletter.
Latest Articles by Trish Mehaffey
Crime & Courts Aug. 21, 2024 6:35 pm512d ago
A Cedar Rapids man, who has been previously convicted in state court for shooting man, will remain in jail pending his October federal trial for distributing drugs near schools. He has been a fugitive for months and was arrested by U.S. marshals in July.
Crime & Courts Aug. 20, 2024 4:40 pm513d ago
A woman, during her former fiance’s sentencing on Tuesday, said he blames alcohol for his behavior in April but there’s no excuse for him kicking, punching and stomping on her, causing multiple face, eye, rib and neck injuries. She still has emotional trauma from that night.
Crime & Courts Aug. 20, 2024 12:42 pm513d ago
A Marion man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for trying to kill a man, but instead, struck his victim’s mother in both her legs. He must serve a mandatory 5 years before being eligible for parole.
Business News Aug. 19, 2024 7:49 am514d ago
Can Shed’s new app-based program, BottleDrop Iowa, started June 1 and already has 600 users signed up to drop off recycling when its convenient for them. No more waiting in lines and they get paid electronically.
Crime & Courts Aug. 15, 2024 4:06 pm518d ago
A former treasurer of the Iowa City Girls Softball Association was convicted of a lesser charge for embezzling nearly $30,000 from the organization. She set up a new account in an attempt to conceal the discrepancies and withdrawals of cash.
Crime & Courts Aug. 13, 2024 5:16 pm520d ago
A Winneshiek County complaint, made public Tuesday, sheds a little more light on a 2017 homicide of a teen in Decorah, but doesn’t explain how a Georgia man killed her or if authorities have recovered a body. The suspect, who lived near Decorah in 2017, was charged with second-degree murder.
Crime & Courts Aug. 12, 2024 6:54 pm521d ago
A Georgia man was charged Monday in a homicide of a 15-year-old girl who went missing from his rural Winneshiek farm in 2017.
Crime & Courts Aug. 12, 2024 8:19 am521d ago
A former University of Iowa IT employee, who stole a California man’s identity in a stranger-tha- fiction scheme that spanned three decades, will be sentenced Oct. 25 in federal court. He faces up to 32 years in prison.
Crime & Courts Aug. 12, 2024 9:20 am521d ago
Christopher Wuchter, 38, of Earlville, who assaulted his girlfriend and her child over a puppy, was sentenced to illegally possessing firearms while being a drug user. Authorities found drugs and 30 firearms -- two were sawed-off shotguns -- in his home.
Crime & Courts Aug. 8, 2024 4:44 pm525d ago
He responded to a website for prostitution in 2023 and exchanged sexually explicit text messages with a supposed 13 year old -- who actually was an undercover police officer.
Crime & Courts Aug. 8, 2024 4:10 pm525d ago
Jeffrey Alan Bradley, 50, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court to one count of receiving child pornography and faces up to 20 years in prison.
Crime & Courts Aug. 8, 2024 3:57 pm525d ago
Colby Joseph Manley, 26, pleaded guilty in January to four counts of distribution and aiding and abetting the distribution of a controlled substance and two counts of distribution of a controlled substance.
Crime & Courts Aug. 8, 2024 4:07 pm525d ago
Appeals court Judge Mary Tabor was elected as the new chief judge to replace Thomas Bower who retired in July. Tabor has been a judge on the court since 2010.
Crime & Courts Aug. 20, 2024 11:52 am513d ago
A judge lowered bail from $500,000 to $100,000 for a Cedar Rapids woman charged with fatally stabbing the father of two of her children in January. If released, she must wear an ankle monitor and be under the supervision of 6th Judicial Department of Correctional Services pending trial set for Dec. 10.
Crime & Courts Aug. 7, 2024 11:26 am526d ago
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, during a visit to Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, highlighted drug and firearms cases prosecuted in the Northern District of Iowa. Garland has been visiting federal prosecutors office around the country to talk with law enforcement about their efforts.

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